Jeremy Whitley

All right, look: I will admit that I have spent a truly inadvisable amount of time trying to figure out how the world of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is supposed to work. I know, I know, but just trust me on this one, there's a complex cosmology at work there involving the manual rotation of planets and cross-dimensional magic -- and that's just the start of things. But just when I was ready to throw in the towel and give up, there is new hope. In April, IDW is launching a new My Little Pony series, replacing Friends Forever with the all-new Legends of Magic, launching with a new story by Jeremy Whitley and Brenda Hickey. It's a series that promises to explore "the secret history of Equestria," and between that description and the fact that there's a variant cover depicting the modern-day ponies straight up unearthing cave paintings of their '80s cartoon counterparts, and I have never been more intrigued. Read on for the exclusive announcement and some thoughts from Whitley and Hickey!

I love the fun Marvel books, like last week's Unstoppable Wasp. It reminds me why I started reading superhero comics in the first place, and the whole thing is a blast. You can tell the creators --- Jeremy Whitley, Elsa Charretier, Megan Wilson and Joe Caramagna --- are having tonnes of fun, too. It starts to bleed into the way they present the story, with some non-traditional layouts on quite a few pages. The comics form is often limited to just regular panels, gridded pages and the like, but it's not the only way to draw a story on a page, obviously. So when you see an example like Nadia recounting a story of her father --- Hank Pym --- and it's told through the mask of Ant Man, that stands out. It breaks the normal mold of what you'd expect, and it does a couple of things that help tell a story.

This week sees the release of The Unstoppable Wasp #1 by Jeremy Whitley, Elsa Charretier, Megan Wilson and Joe Caramagna, which takes the daughter of Hank Pym from Avengers rookie to solo star. The first issue is packed with charm, heart and style, and proves to be not only an incredibly strong debut issue, but an even stronger statement of intent for the series at large.

For just over five years, Action Lab Comics has been one of the key indie publishers leading the trend towards diverse storytelling, and one of the biggest feathers in its cap, alongside series like Voracious, Nutmeg, and Molly Danger, is the Eisner-nominated, Glyph-winning, all-ages fantasy series Princeless, an empowering take on fairytale princess tropes.

The new Wasp, introduced in All-New Avengers, is arriving in her own series with The Unstoppable Wasp #1 by Jeremy Whitley and Elsa Charretier. With a fantastic cover by Charretier and the promise of fun, upbeat adventures, this comic seems to be aimed squarely at the Unbeatable Squirrel Girl demographic, which is frankly a direction more comics should be aiming in.

Despite all the naysayers and negativity, the new Ghostbusters movie has received a rave reception from critics and audiences, thanks in large part to the chemistry and charisma of its four lead actors, Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones, and Kate McKinnon. If you loved Ghostbusters and you're after comics in a similar vein, we've rounded up five of the best independent comics that capture the spirit (no pun intended) of the summer's biggest comedy.

Marvel's next big line launch was formally unveiled this week via a special edition of Marvel Previews, including new #1s for Avengers, Venom, Captain Marvel, and Star-Lord, new launches for Champions, Jessica Jones, Kingpin, Bullseye, Slapstick, and Solo, and new concepts in Occupy Avengers, Iron Fists, Mosaic, Infamous Iron Man, and Unstoppable Wasp. Following our roundtable discussion of DC Rebirth, the ComicsAlliance team got together to break down the highs and lows of the new Marvel NOW. Join Elle Collins, James Leask, Katie Schenkel, Kieran Shiach, and Andrew Wheeler as they pick out the books they're most excited about and the books they're concerned about, and discuss Marvel's approach to legacy heroes and the state of diversity at Marvel today.

With the release of Princeless: The Pirate Princess, creator Jeremy Whitley really started to take his all-ages princess-power series and boost it deep into the consciousness of the comics community. Following Raven, the aforementioned Princess of the High Seas, as she gangs up forces with two other princesses, the third volume of the story was drawn by the team of Rosy Higgins and Ted Brandt in their first ever published work. That's a hugely impressive feat, especially given that they had to jump straight in on a continuing series after two volumes, and keep pace with a world of dragons, swashbuckling and piracy. They don't have a simple artist-colorist sort of arrangement, either --- both of them alternate back and forth throughout the creative process. With Princeless proving to be one of the breakout books from Action Lab of the last few years (as well as one of our most-recommended comics for kids on this very site), ComicsAlliance spoke to Higgins and Brandt about their artistic process.

The holiday season is upon us, and with that comes gifts! It’s always lovely to receive something special from someone you love, but there’s also a particular pleasure that comes in giving a really well chosen gift and knowing that it’s truly appreciated. Sometimes it really is better to give than to receive! In that spirit, ComicsAlliance is here to inspire you with some great ideas for gifts to buy for your friends and family. Each gift guide is tailored to a particular personality type or special interests, and today we’re picking out comics gifts for the biggest, most important group of all; kids!

The week's over! You did it, and did it in sensational style. But while you've been off working and living and doing all those things that humans do, what have you missed in the world of comics? With Weekender, ComicsAlliance is here to give you a heads-up on some of the stories that you might have overlooked, and to showcase some great writing on comics for you to enjoy over pancakes this weekend.